Pegboard hanger

ABSTRACT

A pegboard hanger having a pair of shoulder members to pass through apertures in the pegboard with a body extending from the shoulder members in front of the pegboard and a neck member on each shoulder member disposed behind the pegboard, such neck members extending at an outward angle to a vertical axis to retain the hanger in the pegboard.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The device of this invention resides in the area of pegboard hangers andmore particularly relates to a pegboard hanger that includes structureto prevent its unintentional removal from the pegboard when objectsretained thereon are lifted off the hanger.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Pegboards, being perforated boards with a plurality of generally equallyspaced-apart apertures, each aperture running from the front surface tothe rear surface of the pegboard, such apertures usually arrayed inhorizontal rows and vertical columns, are well known. On such pegboardsare mounted hangers of various configurations to hold items, such astools, desired to be retained on the pegboard where they are displayedfor easy access. Should one desire to remove an item held on a pegboardhanger, one lifts the item off its hanger and after use returns it tothe hanger where it is stored. An often occurring problem in prior artpegboard hangers is that the hangers easily come off the pegboard. Priorart hangers generally include a base on which the item rests and memberswhich pass through apertures in the pegboard which members have rearupwardly extending retention members that retain the hanger on thepegboard. Often when the object held on the hanger is lifted, itsremoval tends to pull upwards on the hanger which causes the retentionmembers to slide out through the apertures in the pegboard resulting inthe hanger falling off the pegboard and requiring the replacement of thehanger on the pegboard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved hanger for useon pegboards which hanger eliminates the prior art problems of thehanger unintentionally coming out of the pegboard. The hanger of thisinvention includes means to prevent the hanger from being inadvertentlyremoved from the pegboard when objects held on the hanger are removedtherefrom.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hanger withvarious base member configurations to hold a plurality of differentshaped items thereon. The pegboard aperture engagement structure of thisinvention is adapted so that the hanger will not disengage from thepegboard apertures as objects are lifted therefrom, even if the hangeris lifted upwards.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a hangerhaving a pair of upright members generally positioned vertically againstthe front of the pegboard with inwardly extending shoulder memberspassing through selected of the pegboard's apertures with a neck memberextending from ea:h of the shoulder members, said neck member beingdisposed at an outward angle from a vertical axis. Each upright memberextends down in some embodiments to a leg member which extends generallyhorizontally inwards toward the opposite upright member, such legmembers in some embodiments crossing one over the other and which legmembers extend to a base member which base member can be in a variety ofconfigurations as will be described further below. The upright membersare positioned somewhat further apart than the distance between thepreselected apertures in the pegboard. Thus, in order to align theshoulder members with the pegboard's apertures, the upright members mustbe maneuvered closer together by manually squeezing them together. Theneck members, though, extending from the shoulder members outward fromthe vertical axis of the upright members, will not be able to passthrough the holes, even if the shoulder members are squeezed to bealigned with the apertures. In order to install the hanger, one has tofurther squeeze the upright member sufficiently together so that theends of the neck members, each end of which has a diameter narrower thanthe diameter of the pegboard aperture through which it will pass, willalign with the preselected pair of apertures while one lifts the hangerto an almost horizontal position of the upright member to start toengage the ends of the neck members into the apertures. One then passesthe neck members into the apertures even though they extend at anoutward angle from the vertical axis and gradually passes them throughthe apertures, lowering the hanger back down to a vertical position ofthe uprights against the pegboard while at the same time releasing theinward compression on the upright members which steps will allow theneck members to slide at an angle as they are pushed through theapertures. The hanger is then retained in the generally verticalposition of the upright members with the outwardly extending base membergenerally in a horizontal position. When one places an object on thehanger, it is retained thereon until one desires to remove the object.When removed, the object may pull upwards on the base and lift theupright members but the outwardly extending neck members will not passback through the apertures because they extend outward to either sidewell beyond the perimeters of the apertures. The only way to remove thehanger of this invention is to deliberately lift it while essentiallyreversing the steps of hanger installation. The upright members aresqueezed together as the clip is lifted upwards toward a horizontalposition of the upright members, and the hanger is then pulled away fromthe apertures so as to cause the neck members to slide through theapertures as the upright members are being compressed together. Thus thehanger can only be removed by deliberate action.

It is felt that this invention represents a significant advance over theprior art in that the hanger cannot be removed merely by lifting anobject off the base which, while such action might lift the hanger up abit, will not compress the upright members together which step isnecessary to remove the hanger from the pegboard.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of the pegboard hanger ofthis invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a rear perspective view of the device of thisinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the device of this invention inan uncompressed state and in a compressed state for installation on apegboard.

FIG. 4 illustrates the device with its neck members passed through thepegboard apertures.

FIG. 5 illustrates the hanger installed on a pegboard with the uprightmembers in a vertical position and the neck members extending at anangle outward beyond the perimeter of the apertures.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the hanger.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the base member.

FIG. 8 illustrates a further alternate embodiment of the base member.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet another alternate embodiment of the base member

FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of a hanger of this invention beinginserted into the apertures of a pegboard.

FIG. 11 illustrates the hanger of FIG. 10 being inserted further intothe apertures of the pegboard.

FIG. 12 illustrates the hanger of FIG. 10 being yet further insertedinto the apertures of the pegboard.

FIG. 13 illustrates the hanger of FIG. 10 being still further insertedthrough the apertures in the pegboard.

FIG. 13a illustrates a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 13.

FIG. 14 illustrates a view of the hanger of FIG. 10 fully inserted intothe apertures within the pegboard.

FIG. 14a illustrates a side view of the embodiment of FIG. 14.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic structure of the pegboard hanger of thisinvention having first and second upright members 12 and 14 which aregenerally disposed vertically to the pegboard when installed in positionthereagainst. Extending toward the pegboard at the top of andperpendicular to the upright members, are first and second shouldermembers 16 and 18. These shoulder members are adapted to pass throughselected apertures in the pegboard when the upright members arecompressed together but because of the positioning of the uprightmembers when the device is uninstalled, the shoulder members are spacedwider apart from one another than the distance between the pegboardapertures into which they are designed to pass. Extending from the endsof the shoulder members at angle 30 to vertical axis 34 as depicted bydotted lines are first and second neck members 20 and 22 which extendperpendicular to the shoulder members outward at angle 30 approximately30-45 degrees from vertical axis 34. The neck members each have asmaller diameter than the diameter of the pegboard apertures so theyhave room to pass therethrough at an angle and this configuration isimportant to this invention as the neck members retain the hanger inplace even when objects retained on the hanger are removed. At thebottom of each upright member, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, can extendfirst and second leg members 24 and 26, respectively, from first andsecond upright members 12 and 14. In this embodiment first and secondleg members 24 and 26 cross over and under one another and areinterconnected by base member 28 which extends outward, curves aroundand interconnects first leg member 24 to second leg member 26. It shouldbe noted that other structures can form the base of the verticallydisposed upright members some of which structures are described infurther detail below. The hanger can be made of a resilient materialsuch as metal, plastic or equivalent material bent to the desired formwith the upright members disposed somewhat further apart from oneanother than the distance between the apertures so that the uprightmembers must be manually compressed together during installation of thehanger as described above.

FIG. 2 illustrates a rear Perspective view of the structure of thisinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of this invention during installationof the hanger wherein first and second upright members 12 and 14 areheld vertically to the pegboard. They are shown in dotted lines in theiruncompressed state before compression, and in solid lines whencompressed together to pass through apertures 40 and 42. Once they arecompressed together sufficiently so that the ends of the neck memberscan pass into and through apertures 40 and 42, the upright members arereleased from compression. The hanger is then engaged through theapertures as seen in FIG. 4 where the upright members are allowed toexpand as the neck members pass through the apertures until each neckmember passes to the rear of the pegboard behind the desired apertureand the junctions 17 and 19 of the neck members, and the shouldermembers are positioned beyond such apertures. The hanger, as seen inFIG. 5, at the same time is rotated downward until the upright membersare in a vertical position where they can rest against the pegboard, andthe shoulder members are slid all the way into the apertures. In thisposition the neck members extend outward from a vertical axis alignedwith the upright members and even if the hanger were lifted, the neckmembers could not pass out through the apertures again unless at thesame time that the hanger was lifted, the upright members werecompressed together continuously to allow the neck members to bewithdrawn from the apertures. The upright members must be continuouslycompressed together as the neck members are withdrawn through theapertures because they project at an outwardly extending angle.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the device showing theshoulder members passing through pegboard apertures 40 and 41 andextending to first and second upright members 50 and 52 which extenddownward and then outward and join one another forming base hook 54.This hanger is structured so that first and second upright members 50and 52 are disposed in a relaxed state further apart than the distancebetween apertures 40 and 41, and these upright members, as in the otherembodiments, must be compressed in order to engage first and second neckmembers 20 and 22 into and through apertures 40 and 41.

In an alternate embodiment of the hanger of this invention, FIG. 7illustrates first and second upright members 60 and 62 which each extendrespectively down to outwardly extending first and second projectionmembers 68 and 64 which recurve back and are joined at junction member66 which is positioned adjacent to the pegboard. This style of hangercan be used when the object to be held on the pegboard is passed intoand retained within space 65 between outwardly extending first andsecond projection members 68 and 64.

FIG. 8 illustrates a further embodiment of the base of the hanger ofthis invention wherein first and second arm members 21 and 23 continueto downwardly extending first and second extension portions 70 and 72respectively which are joined by interconnecting portion 74 for thehanging thereon of cords or the like.

FIG. 9 illustrates yet a further embodiment of the device of thisinvention showing the upright members extending to a series of joggedleg members such as first and second leg members 80 and 84 forming abase plane perpendicular to the pegboard.

FIG. 10 is a top view of a hanger of the type of this invention whereinpegboard 90 is seen in cutaway with neck members 20 and 22 about to beinserted into apertures 92 and 94. As can be seen, upright members 12and 14 have been compressed together a distance 96 so that the ends ofneck members 20 and 22 can be entered into the apertures 92 and 94.

FIG. 11 shows a similar view as that of FIG. 10 wherein neck members 20and 22 have been passed into apertures 92 and 94 and the distancebetween the upright members 12 and 14 has changed as they are allowed tospread somewhat apart from their compressed state as seen in FIG. 10.

In FIG. 12, which shows a similar view as that of FIG. 11, one can seethat neck members 20 and 22 have passed part of the way through theapertures so that their ends protrude beyond the rear of the pegboardwhile at the same time the distance 96 between the uprights continues toincrease as the neck members are allowed to expand further apart.

FIG. 13 shows neck members 20 and 22 fully passed through the aperturesand the distance 96 between uprights 12 and 14 further increasedalthough some compression may still be present which tension helps holdthe hanger in the pegboard by such outward urging of uprights 12 and 14against the pegboard.

FIG. 13a shows a side view of the hanger of FIG. 13 with the neckmembers now positioned beyond the rear of the pegboard and the shouldermembers now starting their entrance into the apertures.

FIG. 14 shows the shoulder members inserted and lowered to their fullyhorizontal position and the hanger completely installed with uprights 12and 14 in a vertical position, as also seen in FIG. 14a, and with neckmembers 20 and 22 seen extending to the side well beyond the outerperimeters of apertures 92 and 94.

It should be noted that although several embodiments of the base memberhave been illustated, any design of base member can be utilized with thestructure of this invention as long as they allow the compression of theupright members to move the shoulder members inwards so that the neckmembers can be engaged through the pegboard apertures as desired and thebase members provide resilient outward pressure thereby urging theupright members in an uncompressed state beyond the outer perimeter ofthe pegboard apertures.

Although the present invention has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat variations and modifications can be substituted therefor withoutdeparting from the principles and spirit of the invention.

I claim:
 1. An object-holding hanger for positioning on a pegboardhaving at least one pair of spaced-apart apertures defined therein, saidhanger comprising:base means to retain objects positioned on saidhanger; a pair of spaced-apart shoulder members disposed parallel to oneanother, each having first and second ends for positioning through twoselected apertures; a pair of support members each having first andsecond ends, each interconnected at their first ends to said base meansand at their second ends to the first ends of said shoulder membersrespectively, said support members being resiliently biased apart bysaid base member positioning said shoulder members, when said hanger isin an uncompressed state, further apart than the distance between saidselected apertures, said support members being compressible to alignsaid shoulder members individually into said selected apertures; and apair of neck members of smaller diameter than the diameter of saidapertures in said pegboard, each neck member having first and secondends with the first ends of said neck members affixed respectively tothe second ends of said shoulder members, said neck members eachextending outwardly away from one another in opposite directions, eachat an approximately 30-45 degree angle to a vertical axis generallyparallel to said support members when said hanger is installed on saidpegboard, said hanger when installed in said selected apertures in saidpegboard being compressed inwardly sufficiently for the engagement ofthe oppositely directed second ends of said neck members into saidapertures while said neck members are held in a generally horizontalposition and maneuvered through said apertures while releasing theinward compression on said support members at the same time as movingsaid hanger to a generally vertical position when said neck members havepassed through said apertures and said shoulder members are positionedin said apertures and wherein the second ends of said neck members arepositioned beyond the perimeters of said apertures.
 2. The structure ofclaim 1 wherein said support members comprise first and second uprightmembers.
 3. The structure of claim 2 wherein said base member furtherincludes a first leg member and a second leg member each having firstand second ends disposed with their first ends interconnected to theends of said first and second upright members, said first and second legmembers extending inwardly from said upright members with one leg membercrossing over the other leg member and an interconnection memberconnecting the second ends of said first and second leg members, saidinterconnection member compressibly biasing said upright members apart.